Oakdale Welcomes Climbing Festival

POSTEDOctober 26, 2012 12:01 p.m.

The city of Oakdale will be the gathering place for a climber’s festival at the Oakdale Community Center, 110 S. Second Ave. on Friday, Oct. 26 through Sunday, Oct. 28. This three-day event will feature many speakers from the climbing world.

Tom Frost, Al Steck, Ken Yager, and Royal Robbins are a few of the speakers that will be there.

“The guys coming to talk have created climbing,” said Ramona Howard, the event coordinator. “It’s about the climbing history.”

Organizers are excited about this first time event and hope to bring new people to the area.

There will be presentations about the life of John Salathe and his climbing history. There is a part of El Capitan in Yosemite that has been named in Salathe’s honor, called the Salathe Wall.

The event is free to all guests that have pre-registered. There will be a $20 fee at the door for those that did not pre-register. There also also several sponsors from the climbing community that are expected to be in attendance, ranging from Cliff Bar, Petzl, and the American Alpine Club. Some of the other activities will feature authors, artists, bike and hiking club info. A food vendor will be on hand and there will also be a climbing wall for guests to enjoy outside.

The event will start on Friday, Oct. 26 and run from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m., continues on Saturday, Oct. 27 from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., and wraps up with Sunday, Oct. 28 hours from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.